The First National Bank of Ipswich

Focus On Seabirds Of Cape Ann, Joppa Flats Education Center, Newburyport, Sunday, February 21st

February 19, 2010

When: Sunday, February 21st, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Where: Meet at the Joppa Flats Education Center, One Plum Island Turnpike, Newburyport, MA.

Join Mass Audubon’s Joppa Flats Education Center exploring Cape Ann to find sea ducks, loons, grebes, and gulls on Sunday, February 21st.

If you’re lucky you may also see harlequin ducks and perhaps a king eider.
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Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend, Friday-Sunday, Gloucester, February 5th to 7th

December 26, 2009

Cape Ann Birding WeekendWhen: Friday though Sunday, February 5th to 7th
Where
: The Elks at Bass Rocks, 97 Atlantic Road, Gloucester, MA

Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend

For birders, the North Shore of Massachusetts is an excellent year round birding location.

The Cape Ann region of the North Shore is known to birdwatchers worldwide for its exciting concentrations of winter seabirds.

Loons, grebes, gannets, sea ducks, alcids, and gulls gather in impressive concentrations and variety, and a careful exploration of the area’s gorgeous coastal geography is quite likely to turn up such winter bird specialties as the Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend’s logo bird, the Harlequin Duck.

If you want to enjoy a winter weekend of birding in the Cape Ann region of Massachusetts, make plans to attend the Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend.

Working with the Mass Audubon Society, the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce has a weekend filled with opportunity for bird lovers of all skill levels to join expert guides on a tour of Cape Ann’s birding hot spots- including a sea trip on the 7 Seas Whale Watch boat the Privateer IV (weather permitting!

Sixty-five different species of birds were observed during the 2009 Cape Ann Winter Birding Weekend. Twenty-six were spotted right from the window of the Elks!

The Sunday morning boat trip was filled with excitement and five species of alcids were seen during the trip.

Essex Clamfest, Memorial Park, Essex, Saturday, October 24th

October 20, 2009

25th Annual Essex Clamfest

When: Saturday, October 24th, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m
Where
: Memorial Park, Route 22, Essex, MA (Behind the Essex Firehouse)

This is an event for all of you clam chowder lovers!

The Essex Division of the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce will hold the annual Essex ClamFest from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Memorial Park in Essex.

The highlight of the day is the Clam Chowder Tasting contest, featuring chowders from restaurants on Cape Ann and the North Shore.
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Ryan & Wood Distillery, Gloucester, Offering Free Tours Of Its Small Batch Distillery

August 27, 2009

Ryan & Wood, Inc. DistilleriesIf you’re looking for a reason to visit Gloucester and you have a liking for vodka, rum and gin, you may be interested in taking a tour of the Ryan & Wood Distillery.

Ryan & Wood Distillery, makers of Beauport Vodka, Folly Cove Rum and Knockabout Gin, is now open for tours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 10:00 a.m..

If you would like to see how fine hand-crafted spirits are made, take a tour of this small batch, quality distillery.

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Tour Sailing Research Vessel Corwith Cramer In Gloucester, Saturday, July 18th, 3 to 5 pm

July 16, 2009

Corwith Cramer Sailing VesselCorwith Cramer Sailing Vessel in Gloucester, MAWhen: Saturday, July 18th, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m
Where:  Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, Gloucester, MA

If you appreciate beautiful ships, the sailing research vessel Corwith Cramer, a 134-foot steel brigantine owned by the Sea Education Association (SEA) of Woods Hole, will be in Gloucester for the upcoming weekend. She will be docked at the Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center from Friday, July 17th through Sunday, July 19th.

Onboard Tours From 3:00 to 5:00 PM on Saturday, July 18th

The crew of the Corwith Cramer will welcome visitors aboard on Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. You will learn about the vessel and the research conducted on its decks and in its lab. The Corwith Cramer’s visit is one of many activities offered at the Heritage Center to provide Gloucester students with hands-on opportunities to learn about marine science.

Program For Teachers And Students From 1:00 to 3:00 PM

A special program will aldo be conducted for teachers, and middle and high school students from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. There is no charge for this program, but interested teachers and students must register in advance by calling the Heritage Center at 978-281-0470.

Research Equipment And Laboratory

The Corwith Cramer is a floating laboratory and research center. Onboard research equipment includes oceanographic sampling gear such as plankton nets, trawls, cores, dredges, and Nisken bottles.

The ship’s lab is outfitted with modern sampling and analytic gear including a digital recording bathythermograph, salinometer, fluorometer, spectrophotometer, and four mini computers for data recovery, processing and storage.
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Rumor Mill: Lance Armstrong May Race in Gloucester

October 2, 2008

Gran Prix of GloucesterThe North Shore/Cape Ann/Greater Newburyport region has been a hot spot for celebrity sightings this year as several scenes for upcoming movies have been filmed throughout the region.

We may be able to add famous athletes to the list of actors and actresses in a few weeks if the latest rumor out of Gloucester pans out.

According to an article by Matt Langone in the Gloucester Daily News, rumors are swirling about in Gloucester and the professional bicycling community that Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France winner, may race in the Grand Prix of Gloucester on October 11th and 12th.
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Lecture: The Annual 1500-Mile Long Triangular Migration Of Wild Atlantic Stripers

July 14, 2008

Richard Murphy
Richard Murphy
When: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Sawyer Free Library, Friend’s Room, 2 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA

On Wednesday, July 16 at 7:00 p.m., the Schoooner Adventure Series is holding a free lecture by inveterate fly-fisherman Richard Murphy for an on wild-spawning Striped Bass that roam coastal beaches, bays, and estuaries from the Carolinas to Maine.

The lecture is being held at Sawyer Free Library, Friend’s Room
2 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA. Richard Murphy is a Civil Engineer for the State of Massachusetts and the author of Fly-Fishing for Striped Bass.

For more information, visit the Schooner Adventure website.

Gloucester To Be Featured On Chronicle (WCVB-TV) On Monday at 7:30 pm

April 19, 2008

WCVB-TV, Channel 5, is re-broadcasting on monday evening, April 21, at 7:30 pm the 30-minute program it ran on the City of Gloucester in an espisode of its award winning regional program, Chronicle, last summer. The Chronicle team spent three weeks in Gloucester collecting information and interviewing residents and officials in the city for the program.

According to the Gloucester Daily Times, the program explored Gloucester’s identity crisis as it imagined a life after commercial fishing’s command of the harbor was broken by overly restrictive fishery regulators.

Walt Disney Pictures May Film In Rockport This April

March 25, 2008

An article in the Gloucester Daily Times by Jonathan L’Ecuyer reports that the Town of Rockport and Walt Disney Pictures are negotiating the details for an agreement to allow Walt Disney Pictures to film on location on Bearskin Neck and Main Street in Rockport for seven days in April.

The filming is for the movie, “The Proposal,” a romantic comedy from director Anne Fletcher and starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Betty White, Mary Steenburgen and Craig T. Nelson. Currently the effort is in pre-production and tentatively set to open in theaters in September 2009.

For more information, see Mr. L’Ecuyer’s article in the Gloucester Daily Times.